ABSTRACT
As noted above, Western scholarship on China has long overlooked the institutions and roles of legislatures, especially the Provincial People’s Congresses (PPCs). This neglect of legislatures at the sub-national levels and their activities makes it impossible for us to have a complete picture of China’s governance. Because of the complex linkages of the PPCs with the CPC, government and other state institutions (both at the central and sub-national levels), and economic institutions (see Chapters 2 and 3), legislative processes enable us to examine these relationships that have long intrigued many political scientists. As one Chinese legislative scholar puts it:
Overall, as weaving a huge net, legislation regulates every aspect of social life. Only as the nodes of this net of legislation are in the right place can our huge and complex society maintain stability and order. Local legislation is an important part of this huge net. If local legislation is not adequate, the net of the law will have holes. Law will fail to play an effective role of regulation over society. The reason that we pay much attention to local legislation is because the construction of local legal system will directly affect the progress of constructing a legal system in the entire country.
